My Word with Douglas E. Welch

Handy Farm Devices And How To Make Them (1909)

This is a great book for lost knowledge that can still be useful today. I love to try and re-use materials around my house and yard when they no longer provide their original purpose. There is information on gardening, tying knots, supporting fence posts and removing them, building walls and more. Just because information is old doesn’t mean it isn’t still useful.

More 2012 Gift Guide Items:

1. Do the Work by Steven Pressfield
2. Bulb Planting Tools
3. Blue Snowball Microphone
4. Seagate Backup Plus 500 GB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive
5. Logitech C920 HD Web Cam
6. We Are All Weird by Seth Godin
7. Sunset Western Garden Book – New Edition for 2012
8. The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings
9. Garden Mysteries by Anthony Eglin
10. The Creative Habit/The Collaborative Habit by Twyla Tharp
11. Moleskeine Journals
12. Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening (3rd Edition): Month by Month
13. Podcasting for Dummies/Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies
14. Wacom Bamboo Splash Pen Tablet
15. Radical Careering by Sally Hogshead
16. The $64 Tomato
17. Blue Yeti Microphone
18. BioLite CampStove/HomeStove
19. Getting Things Done by David Allen
20. The Curious Gardener
21. Anything You Want by Derek Sivers
22. GoPro HD HERO 3
23. Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart
24. The Starfish and the Spider by Orj Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom
25. Microphone Boom Arms
26. The Information by James Gleick

* I originally posted about the BioLite stoves back in May 2012, but sure enough, I saw pictures of them being used during the recovery from Hurricane Sandy. While it might be overkill to just have one of these on hand for emergency purposes only, I am sure it came in handy for those who had one. That said, at $129 it really isn’t that expensive a tool to add to your emergency kit. Cell phones and other electronics are our virtual lifelines these days, and anything that can keep them charged during emergencies is probably a great idea.

The BioLiteCampStove (and its larger sibling, the HomeStove) were originally designed to replace less efficient and dangerous open fires in developing countries. That said, the CampStove could easily find a place in your camping (or earthquake preparedness) kit this Summer. It could be just what you need to keep your phone charged and communicating when you need it most.

Available for pre-order at $129, the CampStove not only cooks your food and boils your water, it can also power your USB gadgets like smartphones and LED lights. Even better, it does this using small sticks, pinecones, pellets or other biomass, not large amounts of firewood. The wood is continuously fed into the stove and a thermoelectric generator turns a small fan to aid in complete and efficient combustion of the materials.  The excess energy is then available to use for your technology.

More information is available from the BioLite web site

More 2012 Gift Guide Items:

1. Do the Work by Steven Pressfield
2. Bulb Planting Tools
3. Blue Snowball Microphone
4. Seagate Backup Plus 500 GB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive
5. Logitech C920 HD Web Cam
6. We Are All Weird by Seth Godin
7. Sunset Western Garden Book – New Edition for 2012
8. The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings
9. Garden Mysteries by Anthony Eglin
10. The Creative Habit/The Collaborative Habit by Twyla Tharp
11. Moleskeine Journals
12. Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening (3rd Edition): Month by Month
13. Podcasting for Dummies/Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies
14. Wacom Bamboo Splash Pen Tablet
15. Radical Careering by Sally Hogshead
16. The $64 Tomato
17. Blue Yeti Microphone

We have attended a Metrolink Holiday Toy Train event in the past and it is a great time. The kids especially enjoy it as it has trains (every kid LOVES trains, right?), music, lights and, of course, Santa! Check out the schedule to see when Metrolink Holiday Toy Train is visiting your neighborhood.

From the Metrolink Web Site…

HOLIDAY TOY EXPRESS

Santa’s glittering train, the Holiday Toy Express®, is once again preparing to travel from city to city to entertain families and collect toys for the less fortunate. This year the Holiday Toy Express will bring joy to all of the communities we serve as it marks its 16th year of operation. This 41 stop tour, which passes through six counties, brings a brightly packaged gift to Metrolink communities – a 450-ton train decorated with holiday displays and 50,000 twinkling lights – and delivers a live musical performance, Santa and community fun.

Join us, ABC7 and Southland Firefighters who will be collecting toys at the station stops as a key part of their overall annual “Spark of Love Toy Drive” in the region.

See the entire 2012 schedule

Here are some photos from the 2008 Holiday Toy Train event at Van Nuys station.

Can’t see the slideshow above? Watch “Metrolink Holiday Toy Train 2008″ on Flickr

See all of my Instagram pictures via Instagrid

For the past 3 years we have greatly enjoyed the shows presented by the Independent Shakespeare Company of LA in several different venues about town. Lately they have settled into the Old Zoo in Griffith Park, a lovely venue for an evening of the Bard. Even better, every show is free to all. Bring your own picnic and your own chair and you are set.

The ISC recently started this Summer’s season with a production of The Winter’s Tale, one of Shakespeare’s later plays. We are planning on seeing this show on July 8 and already have our dates picked for the other 2 shows of the summer, A Midsummer NIght’s Dream and The Comedy of Errors. You can find the full schedule of all shows on the ISCLA web site.

THE WINTER’S TALE
Opening June 28
In Sicilia, all is well. But when King Leontes becomes consumed with jealousy, a misunderstanding spirals into tragedy. Indifferent to the word of the Gods, reason, or natural sentiment, he resigns his wife, son, and unborn child to a dreadful fate.

As the years roll on, however, a very different destiny is evolving in the kingdom of Bohemia. Rustic and wild, it is a place where love prevails and music and humor are rampant. When the two worlds intersect, miracles come to pass.

Shakespeare’s great romance challenges our expectations. It folds time and genre into a unique work of art that reveals the essential, humane nature of the author.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Opening July 5
In a fantastical Athens surrounded by an enchanted wood, the lines between dreaming and waking are deliciously blurred. As the wedding of Duke Theseus to his captured Amazonian bride approaches, a group of tradesmen rehearse a play to celebrate the nuptials. In the shadows alongside them, the King and Queen of the fairies do battle, lovers succumb to magic and each other, and forest spirits seek to unravel the mysteries of the human heart.

This production of Shakespeare’s most intoxicating comedy is staged with athletic abandon and dazzling costumes.

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS
Opening August 2
The Mediterranean Island of Ephesus at the tail end of WWII is a dangerous place. Locked in a battle with neighboring Syracuse, the town is suspicious of strangers. Into this place, two men come to town seeking to find themselves, but inadvertently cut a path of chaos. During the upheaval, love is lost and found, lives are saved, and a community is restored.

A live band and period dancing complete Shakespeare’s most compact and fast-paced comedy.

It seems like it was much more than just 2 years ago when we visited Wales and England on our trip. As I was flipping through our past videos I came across this “long picture” of Stonehenge on Summer Solstice 2010. We have some great memories of that trip and I know I am always wanting to go back to the UK whenever I can.

Can’t see the video above? Watch “Places UK – Stonehenge” on YouTube

Please like Like this video and/or subscribe to my channel on YouTube.

At the end of a Neighborhood Watch Meeting today I announced that I had eclipse viewers to share so people could take a gander at today’s annular solar eclipse. That, along with a large party at the neighbors and the fact that I was standing in my front yard pointing a camera and my own eyes at the sun, led to us having about 20 people stop by to take a look.

I think science is very, very cool and it was great to help people enjoy something so scientifically special in their own front yards. This is especially true for the kids. I loved that the first words out of their mouths — and most of the adults too — was COOL! Hopefully this will stick with them when they are older and wondering what science really has to offer them in life.

Here are few of the photos I tried to capture. It is very difficult to shoot an eclipse, even with the special filters provided by my eclipse-watching expert friend, Michael. I really don’t have a big enough telephoto lens to create a very large image of the eclipse, but what I caught I think came out very well.

Click for larger images

My eclipse-watching friend, Michael, sent out this great notice about the annular eclipse that will be visible from Los Angeles on Sunday, May 20, 2012. Michael, and his wife Keri, have traveled all over the world to view eclipses, including Turkey and Mongolia. He gives some great advice and links on how to safely observe the eclipse.

Annular eclipse Sunday partial View in Los Angeles!   Just before Sunset!

View safely!!  Don’t look at it directly!  if you don’t have  Viewing glasses…

  

http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/how.html

http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/card.html

“Unsafe filters include color film, some non-silver black and white film, medical x-ray films with images on them, smoked glass, photographic neutral density filters and polarizing filters. Solar filters designed to thread into eyepieces which are often sold with inexpensive telescopes are also dangerous. They should not be used for viewing the Sun at any time since they often crack from overheating. Do not experiment with other filters unless you are certain that they are safe. Damage to the eyes comes predominantly from invisible infrared wavelengths. The fact that the Sun appears dark in a filter or that you feel no discomfort does not guarantee that your eyes are safe.”

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/safety.html

Los Angeles will get a Partial View - 

 This is from The Griffith Observatory page...

Here is a selection of free wallpapers for your computer desktop or smartphone. Right-click and select Save Image As… to download them to your own computer.

Desktop Wallpaper – Plain

Desktop Wallpaper with March Calendar

Smartphone (iPhone/Droid) Wallpaper

From the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area OUTDOORS Calendar of Events…

WED 3/7 6pm

Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa

Howl at the Moon

Join a ranger for a hike during the full moon to look and listen for nightlife in the park, including coyotes, owls, and scorpions! Bring a flashlight. Rain cancels. All ages welcome. Meet at parking lot. 2hrs NPS

THU 3/8 6pm

Charmlee Wilderness Park

Full Moon Hike

Enjoy the mountains, meadow, and an ocean overlook as the moon lights our way. Bring a flashlight and meet at upper parking lot. Rain cancels. Reservations required: 310-317-1364. $4 parking fee. 2hrs CMPR

FRI 3/9 6pm

Franklin Canyon - Sooky Goldman Nature Ctr

Nearly Full Moon Evening

Enjoy a moderately strenuous hike after the sun goes down. The moon, stars, and views add to the joy of being in nature under a full moon. 2hrs MRCA/SMM